Flowers and fruit from the writings of Harriet Beecher Stowe

by Harriet Beecher Stowe

MY WIFE AND I.

Influence of surroundings.

The mutual acquaintance that comes to companions in this solitude and face-to-face communion with nature is deeper and more radical than can come when surrounded by the factitious circumstances of society. When the whole artificial world is withdrawn, and far out of sight, when we are surrounded with the pure and beautiful mysteries of nature, the very best and most genuine part of us comes to the surface, we know each other by the communion of our very highest faculties.